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Assad's family caught trying to escape the country, returned to Damascus
Today's Headlines
Headline Comments [Views]
Page 1: WoT Operations
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Page 3: Non-WoT
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Page 4: Opinion
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Page 6: Politix
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Good morning
Posted by: Fred || 01/30/2012 00:00 || Comments || Link || [336070 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Happy Birthday/Daily Gam Shot

Dorothy Malone aka Marylee Hadley in "Written on the Wind (1956)" aka Marianne in "Beach Party (1963)" aka Constance Mackenzie Carson in "Peyton Place (TV Series 1964–1969)" aka Hazel Dobkins in "Basic Instinct (1992)" aka Acme Book Shop Proprietress in "The Big Sleep (1946)" aka Lt. Susan Peabody in "Torpedo Alley (1952)" aka Mrs. Elaine Yarborough (USO manager in San Diego) in "Battle Cry (1955)" aka Cleva Creighton Chaney in "Man of a Thousand Faces (1957)" aka LaVerne Shumann in "The Tarnished Angels (1957)" aka Lily Dollar in "Warlock (1959)" (age 87)



Safety Glasses Recommended
Posted by: GolfBravoUSMC || 01/30/2012 0:41 Comments || Top||

#2  Happy Birthday/Daily Gam Shot 01/29

Yael Bar Zohar (Israeli) aka Sharon Linovich in "Ramat Aviv Gimmel (TV Series 1995–1999)" aka Ramat Aviv Gimmel (TV Series 1995–1999) in "Telenovela Ba'am (TV Series 2005)" aka Ariel in "Shachar (TV Series 2001–2002)" (age 32)


Posted by: GolfBravoUSMC || 01/30/2012 0:43 Comments || Top||

#3  Is it OK to mess with the Zohar?
Posted by: gorb || 01/30/2012 5:35 Comments || Top||

#4  I doubt it Gorb, it looks like she has a couple of really big guns.
Posted by: Scooter McGruder || 01/30/2012 6:56 Comments || Top||


Afghanistan
Al Qaeda facilitator captured in PaktIya
[TOLOnews] - An Al-Qaeda controller was captured in joint Afghan and coalition force operation in Gardez, the capital of Paktiya province, on Monday, Isaf said.

The controller co-ordinated bad boy activities throughout the area and provided reports to senior al-Qaeda leaders in Pakistain, Isaf said in a statement.
Oooooh -- cell phones? Laptop? Little black book?!?
Reports? Position papers? Inter-office memos? Expense accounts? Fit-reps?
Remember back in the day, when it was said admiringly that Al Qaeda was organized like a successful multinational corporation?
No civilians were harmed during the operation, it said.

The statement said separately that an Afghan-led, coalition-supported security force discovered a weapons cache during an operation in northern Kunduz province today.

The weapons cache consisted of several mortar rounds and a quantity of small arms ammunition. Two suspected snuffies were jugged by Afghan cops for further questioning, Isaf said.

The security force destroyed the cache without incident.
Posted by: || 01/30/2012 07:39 || Comments || Link || [336065 views] Top|| File under:

#1  ...provided reports to senior al-Qaeda ISI leaders in Pakistain...
Posted by: Ebbang Uluque6305 || 01/30/2012 11:36 Comments || Top||


4 Militants Killed, 24 Others Detained in Afghan Operation
[TOLOnews] - The Afghan Ministry of Interior said on Monday that four cut-throats died and 24 others were captured in joint Afghan and NATO
...the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. A cautionary tale of cost-benefit analysis....
operations in the previous 24 hours.

In a statement, the Ministry said: "During a series of operations across the country, the national police in co-ordination with the army and international forces have killed four cut-throats and captured 24 others."

Forces also seized a number of arms and ammunition.

On Sunday, 15 cut-throats were killed and six others were captured in a joint operation in western Badghis province, local officials said.

Dozens of cut-throats have recently been killed or capture in Afghan and NATO operations around in the country.
Posted by: || 01/30/2012 07:36 || Comments || Link || [336073 views] Top|| File under:


Africa Horn
Fury as wanted al-Shabaab suspect eludes police
[Daily Nation (Kenya)] Anti-terrorism operations in Kenya suffered a setback last week after a British woman suspected to be an Al-Shabaab
... Harakat ash-Shabaab al-Mujahidin aka the Mujahideen Youth Movement. It was originally the youth movement of the Islamic Courts, now pretty much all of what's left of it. They are aligned with al-Qaeda but operate more like the Afghan or Pakistani Taliban...
financier eluded a police raid in Mombasa and sneaked out of the country.

The escape of the suspect, identified as Ms Natalie Webb, has raised deep concern within the security organs as the circumstances point to possible complicity.

The Nation has reliably learnt that a senior officer with the Anti-Terrorism Police Unit involved in last Tuesday's botched operation has been summoned to Nairobi and an investigation ordered into how the suspect beat feet.

Top coppers in the region declined to comment on the issue, terming it "sensitive".

Police front man Eric Kiraithe confirmed that they had raided an Al-Shabaab safe-house and recovered 60 rounds of AK-47 ammunition, but no arrests were made.

He added that it was unfortunate that the occupants managed to escape. "We knew the general location, but got the exact place just after the suspects had beat feet," said Mr Kiraithe.

He said the suspects were on the run but police had a lot of details about them, including DNA. Coast police boss Aggrey Adoli confirmed that a joint force raided a house in Mombasa.

However,
today is that tomorrow you were thinking about yesterday...
according to impeccable sources within the terror fighting unit, the woman was actually found in the house, but was allowed to escape under mysterious circumstances.

Providing information

The raid at the Shanzu area was carried out by officers drawn from the Flying Squad, the General Service Unit and the Anti-Terrorism Police Unit.

The National Security Intelligence Service was also involved in the operation and provided information on her whereabouts.

Nation journalists who have been on the trail of the Sherlocks for the last one week, confirmed from police that the house where the suspect was living in belongs to a wife of former terror criminal mastermind Musa Hussein Abdi.

Abdi, a Kenyan known by colleagues in the terror networks as Dheere, was killed alongside another terror criminal mastermind, Fazul Abdullah, in Somalia last year. (READ: Fazul man was freed by Kenyan court)

A team of officers had managed to track down the suspect and kept the house under surveillance for a number of days.

More information indicated that several bags from a local bank, that are usually used to ferry money, were found at the suspect's house.
Posted by: Fred || 01/30/2012 00:00 || Comments || Link || [336069 views] Top|| File under: al-Shabaab

#1  check to see which copper just got wealthy
Posted by: Frank G || 01/30/2012 7:54 Comments || Top||


Somali radio station boss shot dead
[Daily Nation (Kenya)] Mr Hassan Osman Abdi alias Fantastic, 30, the Chief Editor of Shabelle Radio, a popular independent broadcaster in Mogadishu, was killed Sunday evening in the Somali capital.

Two terrorists men armed with pistols attacked the journalist in front of his residence in South Mogadishu. The editor was rushed to Radio Shabelle Headquarters where he died afterwards.
How about taking him to a hospital?
Hassan was stopped by two terrorists men as he was entering his gate who then shot him several times, said Mohamed Moalim, a relative who stayed in the area.

"We don't know who they are but the shot him mercilessly in the head and shoulders", he said.

The dear departed leaves behind a widow and three children.

Hassan is the third Shabelle editor to be assassinated in Mogadishu since 2007.
Posted by: Fred || 01/30/2012 00:00 || Comments || Link || [336070 views] Top|| File under: al-Shabaab


Africa North
AQIM plot foiled in Algeria
American officials are acknowledging a terror plot in Algeria that aimed to attack US or European ships in the Mediterranean. The plot, which was similar to that of the bombings in Yemen of the USS Cole in 2000 and the Limburg oil tanker in 2002, included ramming explosives-filled boats into Western-flagged ships, but was interrupted by Algerian authorities in the early planning stages.

ABC reported that US officials had been aware of the plot before the Algerian daily newspaper, Echorouk, broke the story, but hinted that Algerian authorities had foiled the plot without the help of the US government.

Three terror cell members were arrested after arousing suspicions among Algerian authorities when they visited jihadist websites at a local Internet cafe. Although no specific US ship was identified as a target, according to US authorities, Echorouk reported that the plotters had already purchased a boat to carry out the attack.

When asked if the US had played any role in uncovering the plot, a US counterterrorism official gave ABC a vague response, saying, "We know that al Qaeda and their sympathizers continue to plot against the US and our allies [and] as such, we are in touch with a number of foreign governments on issues pertaining to counterterrorism."

Authorities believe the plot was directed by the Algerian-based terror franchise known as al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM). The group, which had earlier called itself the Salafist Group for Preaching and Combat (GSPC), was officially welcomed into the al Qaeda fold by then second-in-command Ayman al Zawahiri in a Sept. 11, 2006 video.
Posted by: || 01/30/2012 13:33 || Comments || Link || [336082 views] Top|| File under:


Three Egyptians injured in fresh clashes near Maspero
(KUNA) -- At least three Egyptians were maimed Sunday in fresh festivities near the official Radio and Television Union headquarters, known as Maspero, in downtown Cairo, the Ministry of Health announced.

"The injured have been rushed to two nearby hospitals where they received necessary treatment," Head of the Central Department for Intensive Care and Emergency at the Ministry of Health Khaled Al-Khateeb told news hounds.

"They had some cuts and bruises and their condition is stable now," he said.

Clashes erupted Sunday afternoon between some protestors and alleged residents Maspero area where protesters started a sit-in since Wednesday to demand military rulers to step down.
Posted by: Fred || 01/30/2012 00:00 || Comments || Link || [336073 views] Top|| File under: Arab Spring


AQIM replaces Sahara emir
[Magharebia] Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) designated Algerian terrorist Nabil Makhloufi, alias Nabil Abu Alqama, as the new head of the Sahara emirate.

The "appointment" of Abu Alqama, who replaced Yahia Djouadi, "took place during the latter half of November 2011", ANI reported last month.

"He was also assigned the task of leading all the organization's battalions and brigades in the Sahara, or what is known as the ninth region of the organization, along with keeping the leaders of those battalions and brigades in their posts," the Mauritanian newspaper added.

The move came on the heels of a fierce rivalry and internecine disputes within the terrorist group.

Mohamed Ghadir (aka Abdelhamid Abou Zeid), the "Tariq ibn Ziyad" katibat boss, and Khaled Abou El Abass (aka Mokhtar Belmokhtar, or "Laaouar"), who runs the El Moulethemine battalion, also vied for control of AQIM's Sahara emirate.

The leadership change has far-reaching implications for countries in the region. Those who craft security policies must take it into consideration, according to analyst Bashir Ould Babaneh.

The move "is related to trying to overcome the conflicts of Sahara emirs and the leaders of their battalions and brigades, as well as being an attempt to inject new blood into the emirate, which has become the most important emirate of the organization and the most vital and active", commented Mohamed Mahmoud Aboulmaaly, who specialises in terrorist groups in the Sahel.

The change came in response to "increasing differences between former emir Yahia Djouadi and some emirs of the other brigades and battalions", he added.

"Yahia Djouadi did not succeed, according to the organization, in activating and developing Sahara Emirate strategies," Aboulmaaly said, "resulting in a slowdown in the latter's activity in 2007, 2008 and 2009."
Posted by: Fred || 01/30/2012 00:00 || Comments || Link || [336081 views] Top|| File under: al-Qaeda in North Africa


Africa Subsaharan
Two civilians dead in Boko Haram attack on police station
Two civilians have died in an attack on a police station in the northern Nigerian city of Kano. Gunmen stormed the station, throwing explosives and an hour-long gun battle ensued. The gunmen are believed to be from Boko Haram. Police say they shot at a bus near another police post on Monday as well.

The Sunday evening attack occured just before the start of the dusk-to-dawn curfew. Local resident Usman Ibrahim Bello said, "We are scared. The police and Boko Haram members are battling each other and there is gunfire everywhere."
Posted by: ryuge || 01/30/2012 05:41 || Comments || Link || [336070 views] Top|| File under:


Arabia
Yemeni Elite Troops Open Fire as Soldiers Protest
[An Nahar] Troops at the headquarters of Yemen's elite Republican Guard opened fire on Sunday at a protest by soldiers demanding the ouster of their brigade chief over corruption charges, a military source said.

Soldiers from the fourth brigade of the Republican Guard were demanding the removal of Abdul Malek al-Arar and another top officer named Abdullah al-Hamiya, the source said, adding that no casualties were reported in the shooting.

The protest follows similar moves by soldiers and police in other areas of the military demanding change since embattled President President-for-Life Ali Abdullah Saleh
... Saleh initially took power as a strongman of North Yemen in 1977, when disco was in flower, but he didn't invite Donna Summer to the inauguration and Blondie couldn't make it...
quit the country last week after handing power to his deputy.

The Republican Guard is led by Saleh's son, Ahmed, one of several relatives who control Yemen's main security and military bodies.

On Saturday, hundreds of air force personnel in Sanaa and Taez demanded the ouster of air force commander Mohammed Saleh al-Ahmar, a half-brother of Saleh.

After months of protests, the veteran Saleh finally signed in November a deal under which he agreed to transfer his powers to his deputy Abdrabuh Mansour Hadi.

He also received blanket immunity against prosecution from parliament, as protesters on the streets insisted that he face trial.

Anti-corruption strikes have spread across several military and government departments in the impoverished country where the economy is on the brink of collapse after a year of protests.

Since Saleh took office in 1978, he has carefully chosen members of his regime, appointing relatives to head the military and security apparatus.

In addition to his son and half-brother, Saleh's nephew Yehya commands the central security services and Tareq, another nephew, controls the presidential guard.
Posted by: Fred || 01/30/2012 00:00 || Comments || Link || [336070 views] Top|| File under: Arab Spring


16,000 displaced persons back homes after Al-Qaeda exit
[Yemen Post] About 16,000 displaced persons of Radda town, about 150 kilometers southeast Sana'a, have returned their homes after the exit of Al-Qaeda Death Eaters.

Deputy governor of Baidha governorate, Ali Almansori, launched school semester examinations after they were postponed due to turbulence caused Al-Qaeda existence.

Tribal leaders and dignitaries of Radda highly appreciated the mediation commission that could persuade Al-Qaeda to leave Radda.

In a statement, they hold Al-Qaeda gun-hung tough guys responsible for the crimes committed inside the town, urging the security services to shoulder their responsibility in protecting the town.

Local sources said residents of Radda erupted into the streets in celebration and fired shots in the air after the withdrawal of Al-Qaeda Death Eaters, pointing out that life returned to its nature, and markets, institutions and services centers were reopened.

Militants led by Tariq Al-Dhahab, a relative of Anwar Al-Walaki, a Yemeni-American holy man who was killed in a American drone strike last fall, had took over the town and positioned inside the archeological castle of Alamiria and its mosque.

However,
some people cause happiness wherever they go; others whenever they go...
the fighters left the town in exchange for the release of their fellow relatives, after forming a committee of 35 dignitaries from seven different Yemeni cities.

"Radaa was stabilized and secured as a result of efforts exerted by tribal leaders and dignitaries" said Mohammad Saad, a resident of Rada'a.

After their control on Radda, Al-Qaeda gun-hung tough guys released all the inmates of the central jail of Rada'a and engaged fighting with rustics in which several persons were killed.

Posted by: Fred || 01/30/2012 00:00 || Comments || Link || [336068 views] Top|| File under: al-Qaeda in Arabia

#1  AQ withdrawals after family is kidnapped... Hmmm....excellent.
Posted by: Butch White8352 || 01/30/2012 18:56 Comments || Top||


Four al-Qaeda militants killed in South Yemen
[Yemen Post] The army announced that 4 al-Qaeda Orcs and similar vermin had been killed in the southern trouble-torn Yemeni province of Abyan, according to local military source.

The army has repelled an offensive carried out by islamists on the outskirts of Abyan's bustling provincial capital, Zinjibar, leaving 4 Orcs and similar vermin killed and destroying a military tank, the local source said, request anonymity because he is not authorized to talk to the media.

Al-Qaeda, on the other hand, has denied that 4 of its men were killed in festivities with security forces.

Anasr al-Sharia, a terrorist group believed to be affiliated to Yemen-based al-Qaeda, took control of Zinjubar and declared it an Islamic emirate in May, but the army assisted by local tribes men managed to force them out 5 months later.

Elsewhere, al-Qaeda has targeted a high-profile intelligence officer in the southern province of Hadramout, killing the officer , one of his guards, and 4 Orcs and similar vermin in ensued clash.

Al-Qaeda has stepped up its offensives on the government and the army lately especially in the southern provinces of the country, apparently taking advantage of a distracted and undermined government.

Yemen is a vital ally of US in its war against terrorism, however, cooperation in military training has been disrupted due to the unrest storming the country, leading US to step up its drone attacks on the terrorist network's hideouts.

Like many countries in the Middle East and North Africa, Yemen has witnessed massive popular protests calling for putting an end to the long and autocratic rule of Yemeni President President-for-Life Ali Abdullah Saleh
... Saleh initially took power as a strongman of North Yemen in 1977, when disco was in flower, but he didn't invite Donna Summer to the inauguration and Blondie couldn't make it...
, leaving hundreds killed, pushing the economy to the brink of collapse and triggering a humanitarian disaster.

Saleh has signed a deal in the Saudi capital of Riyadh which saw him relinquish power to Vice President, Abdu Rabu Mansour Hadi, the consensus candidate for the upcoming presidential elections due to be held on February 21.
Posted by: Fred || 01/30/2012 00:00 || Comments || Link || [336069 views] Top|| File under: al-Qaeda in Arabia


Explosions rock headquarters of defected military division
[Yemen Post] Three kabooms rocked on Saturday night the headquarters of the defected First Armored Davison in Sana'a commanded by Ali Mohsin Saleh, military sources affirmed.

While some sources said that three bombs went kaboom! inside the camp, others said that mortars were shot from another military positions. "No casualties were fallen" the sources said.

They affirmed that the mortars were shelled from the southwestern mountains of Sana'a in which several brigades of the Republican Guard commanded by the elderly son of the outgoing President President-for-Life Ali Abdullah Saleh
... Saleh initially took power as a strongman of North Yemen in 1977, when disco was in flower, but he didn't invite Donna Summer to the inauguration and Blondie couldn't make it...
position.

These events came at the same time that thousands of Yemeni Air Force personnel rally in the capital to demand the removal of the commander of Air Forces and the half-Brother of Saleh.

Moreover, demonstrations erupted on Saturday inside a camp of the Republican Guard located in south Sana'a.

Yemeni analysts said that the bombardments of the First Armored Division was as a response of Saleh's son, Ahmed, and his half-brother, Mohammad, to those protests rocking their camps.

They affirmed that these are attempts to raise military tensions with the aim of containing these massive protests.

Eyewitnesses said that they heard shootings inside the camp belonging to the Republican Guard south Sana'a, indicating that soldiers of the Fourth Brigade staged a sit-in demanding to have their salaries and sack the commander of the brigade.

They made reference that the soldiers blocked a main street linking between Sana'a and Aden, demanding to dismiss the commander of their brigade.

Military sources had revealed the commander of the Republic Guard Ahmed Ali Saleh had cautioned officers and soldiers against arranging any demonstrations, threatening to purge anyone trying to protest.

Posted by: Fred || 01/30/2012 00:00 || Comments || Link || [336088 views] Top|| File under: Arab Spring


Saleh in US for treatment
NEW YORK: The embattled president of Yemen arrived Saturday in the United States for medical treatment for burns he suffered during an assassination attempt in June.
Those were the 'minor injuries', recall...
President Ali Abdullah Saleh arrived at an unspecified location in the United States, according to the country’s foreign press office. His journey had taken him from Oman, through London.

The one-line Yemeni statement said Saleh was in the US for a “short-term private medical visit.” His staff has said he is in the United States to be treated for injuries suffered during the assassination attempt. He was burned over much of his body and had shards of wood embedded into his chest by the explosion that ripped through his palace mosque as he prayed.

After months of unrest, Saleh agreed in November to end his 33-year-rule of the Arabian state. His trip to the US comes as Yemen, a key counterterrorism partner, prepares for an election on Feb. 21 to select his successor.

Human Rights Watch, which says it has documented the deaths of hundreds of anti-government protesters in confrontations with Saleh’s security forces, was outraged by the Yemeni president’s travel to the US for medical treatment.

“It’s appalling that President Saleh arrives here for first-rate medical treatment while hundreds of Yemeni victims, assaulted by his security forces have neither proper medical care nor justice for the crimes they’ve suffered,” Balkees Jarrah, international justice counsel at Human Rights Watch, said in an e-mailed statement. “The Obama administration should insist those responsible for atrocities in Yemen be brought to the dock.”
Bitch, bitch, bitch. We got him out of Yemen, didn't we? How successful were you guys at that one? The Saoodis couldn't do it. The rebels couldn't do it. We did it.

The HRW people would complain if they were hanged with a new rope...
It is unclear how long Saleh intends to remain in the US In a speech before he left Yemen for Oman a week ago, he promised to return home before the election, but the US and its allies have pressured Saleh to leave Yemen for good.

American officials don’t wish him to settle in the US, however, over concerns that it would be seen as harboring an autocratic leader accused by many of his countrymen of using violence to remain in power. Opponents have accused him of trying to interfere in Yemen’s new unity government, even after he supposedly relinquished authority two months ago. He spent three months previously in Saudi Arabia for medical treatment, only to return to Yemen, prompting more protests.
See? Saoodis couldn't rein him in. Yet now he's in New York, and the odds are really, really good he won't go back to Yemen.
Saleh’s travel plans in the United States have not been disclosed for security reasons. It wasn’t clear where he intended to stay while in the country, or where he would be receiving medical care.

He had been traveling on a chartered Emirates plane with a private doctor, several armed guards and relatives, according to an official in the Yemeni president’s office.

The Obama administration agreed last week to allow Saleh to come to the US temporarily for the medical treatment, a move aimed at easing the political transition in Yemen. Saleh initially requested a US visa in December, putting the Obama administration in the awkward position of either having to bar a friendly president from US soil or risking appearing to harbor an autocrat with blood on his hands.
Then again, if we had a president, a secretary of state, and a CIA who were all smart and coordinated, you could say we were just laying the groundwork...
The Yemeni embassy in Washington has said Saleh planned to return home in February to attend a swearing-in ceremony for the country’s newly elected president.
Don't count it. He's gonna have 'complications', I fear...
Posted by: Steve White || 01/30/2012 00:00 || Comments || Link || [336072 views] Top|| File under:

#1  The HRW people would complain if they were hanged with a new rope

From your lips to...
Posted by: Pappy || 01/30/2012 13:31 Comments || Top||


Bangladesh
11 grenades found in Bandarban
[Bangla Daily Star] The members of Bangladesh Border guard (BGB) raided different places here and recovered hand grenades and other materials from a place under Naikhyangchhari upazila of the district yesterday.

Naikhyangchhari BGB sources said Captain Kamrul Hassan, leading a 20-member team, raided a terror den under Dishari union of Naikhangchhari in the morning.

They recovered 11 hand grenades, 27 bullets, 50 sharp weapons, over hundred blankets, huge medicines, one television set and huge amount of Zihadi books from the spot.

The BGB members damaged the den, which was allegedly used by Arakan Rohingya Solidarity Organization (ARSO) members.
Posted by: Fred || 01/30/2012 00:00 || Comments || Link || [336076 views] Top|| File under:


Caribbean-Latin America
More Mexican Mayhem
For a map, click here
How's that improved security working out for ya edition


12 die in northern Mexico

A total of 12 individuals were killed in ongoing drug and gang related incidents in northern Mexico including four inmates at the Achilles Serdan, Chihuahua CERESO.
  • Four inmates were killed and another seven were wounded in a prison riot Sunday morning in Chihuahua, Chihuahua.

    The riot took place at the Achilles Serdan Centro de Readaptacion Social (CERESO) prison. The prison is only five kilometers due east of the capital. Reports are that inmates attacked guards with firearms and other weapons.

    The Achilles Serdan prison is one of the most violent prisons in Mexico, the location of many riots in the past.

  • An unidentified man was found shot to death in Juarez Sunday afternoon. The victim was found near the intersection of calles Cerro Grande and 38th in UP colony. Although the report doesn't specifically state it, the victim was apparently attacked by more than one armed suspect.

  • A youth was shot to death in Juarez early Sunday morning. José Ruben Ayala Bautista, 17, died as he was taken to receive medical attention by his family. The shooting took place when the victim and his friends decided to build a bonfire. An armed suspect came up to the youth and shot him repeatedly in the head.

  • An unidentified woman was found shot to death near Chihuahua, Chihuahua Sunday. The victim was found on kilometer 23 of the Chihuahua city to Juarez highway.

  • An unidentified man was found shot to death in Juarez Sunday. The victim was found near the intersection of calles José Maria Pereyra and Libertad in Barrio La Chavena.

  • A man was found shot to death in Carborca, Sonora Sunday. Leopoldo de la Cruz Felix was found shot twice in the head aboard his wife's Chevrolet Avalanche near the intersection of avenida C and calle 19th in Lazaro Cardenas colony. Two .380 caliber spent shell casings were found in the truck. Cruz Felix was reportedly a local drug dealer.

  • A man was found shot to death in Obregon, Sonora Friday night. Hernan Hernandez Navidad, 28, was found aboard a Toyota vehicle near the intersection of calles Chihuahua and Hidalgo in Centro colony. Several .40 caliber spent shell casings were found at the scene.

  • Two men were found shot to death in Yecora, Sonora last Tuesday night. Benjamín Flores Mungarro, 26, and Claudio Anibal Buelna Encinas, 22 were found on a road leading to El Palmarito. Both men were shot several times with AK-47 and AR-15 rifles.
Posted by: badanov || 01/30/2012 00:00 || Comments || Link || [336069 views] Top|| File under:


5 die, 7 wounded in Torreon, Coahuila massacre
For a map, click here. For a map of Coahuila state, click here
Five unidentified individuals were shot to death and another seven were wounded in an attack in Torreon, Coahuila Saturday night, according to Mexican Spanish language reports.

The attack began at around 2215 hrs when armed suspects travelling aboard a sedan shot into a group of people near the intersection of Avenida Eva Samano and Calle Septima in Nueva Rosita colony.

Local police patrols and a Mexican Army detachment first to arrive on the scene found an unidentified woman and a child dead. Three other victims died while receiving medical treatment.
Posted by: badanov || 01/30/2012 00:00 || Comments || Link || [336072 views] Top|| File under:


5 die in Nuevo Laredo in Tamaulipas
For a map, click here. For a map of Tamaulipas state, click here.
Four armed suspects and one Mexican soldier were killed in an armed confrontation in Nuevo Laredo, Tamaulipas Saturday, according to a Mexican Army press release.

An army road patrol detachment was fired on on Bulevar Venustiano Carranza by armed suspects aboard a convoy of six vehicles. In the ensuing firefight, four suspects were killed by army return gunfire. It is likely an unknown number of armed suspects managed aboard the remaining five vehicles to escape the encounter, although the press report doesn't so state.
Almost reads like the RAB...
One unidentified Mexican rifleman was killed in the encounter, while five other soldiers were wounded.

In the aftermath, soldiers seized five rifles, 50 weapons magazines, 525 rounds of ammunition and one vehicle.
Posted by: badanov || 01/30/2012 00:00 || Comments || Link || [336069 views] Top|| File under:


20 die in Jalisco state
For a map, click here
A total of 20 unidentified individuals,including three municipal police agents, were killed Saturday in Jalisco state, according to Mexican news accounts. Every individual killed or found dead was at the apparent hands of organized crime.

At El Rancho La Estancia in Ejutla municipality, seven unidentified corpses were found in two graves. Four of the victims had been immolated, although reports do not say how any of the victims were killed. Ejutla municipality is south of the resort city of Guadalajara.

In Lagos de Moreno municipality, three municipal police agents were shot to death. The police were on a road patrol aboard an official vehicle between the villages of Ixtle and La Mesa when they were killed. The officers had been bound by handcuff, beaten, then shot by armed suspects. Two of the trio died on the spot,

El Diario de Coahuila reported that the third officer managed to escape his attackers and was the target of foot pursuit which ended at a medical clinic. The armed suspects entered the clinic and killed the third officer.

Lagos de Moreno municipality is in the extreme northeastern part of Jalisco state which borders Zacatecas state to the northwest and San Luis Potosi state to the northeast.

In Guadalajara, a total of seven individuals were found murdered Friday and Saturday, including two in the Colinas de San Javier colony.

In Ameca municipality, an unidentified man was shot to death at the bus station. Ameca is on Jalisco's western border with Michoacan state.

Between San Miguel de Alto and San Julien municipalities two unidentified men were found dead on a road. San Miguel de Alto and San Julien municipalities are 20 kilometers southwest of Lago de Moreno, Jalisco.

Criminal groups appear to be shifting their turf fights from the northern border states to escape the reinforced Mexican military presence there to north central states such as Zacatecas and San Luis Potosi and central states such as Jalisco and Veracruz.
Posted by: badanov || 01/30/2012 00:00 || Comments || Link || [336071 views] Top|| File under:


China-Japan-Koreas
Four NK Cadres Murdered
This is a week old but could be very important in the history of the very unhappy North Korea. Hat tip to Josh Stanton. And like Mr. Stanton, I agree with this act. If I were there and facing starvation I'd do this myself if I possibly could. No one is sticking up for the North Korean people. Not the South, not the U.S., certainly not the U.N., and certainly not the Chinese. If the North Koreans are going to live, they're going to have to fight. The sooner they figure out that they have to string up Pudgy and all his generals, the sooner they'll save their families.
Several days ago it was revealed that during the mourning period for Kim Jong Il, four public officials from North Hamgyung Province were murdered in what is an unprecedented crime for North Korea.

A source in North Hamgyung Province told Daily NK on January 19, “During the mourning period, one official from the provincial NSA, one from the prosecutor’s office and two from the People’s Safety Agency were murdered in Cheongjin.” The source added, “There was a note found lying next to the body of the executed NSA official which said ‘Punished in the name of the people.’”
Oh, excellent! That's just the message to deliver! Next time sign it with the name of an ancient Korean hero.
North Korean authorities have not released the identities of the victims or any information about the case fearing public disturbances, but authorities are said to be using all resources at their disposal to find the people responsible. The Defense Security Command is helping the other three agencies with the investigation, while a report on the murders has been elevated to the Central Party in Pyongyang.

In December 2010, also in Cheongjin, the retired head of the PSA office in the Sunam district died after being attacked on the street by an unknown assailant. This however is the first time that active serving officers have been slain. The likelihood seems to be that the murders were planned by somebody with a political motive rather than a personal grudge.
Although getting revenge for seeing one's family starved to death could be both political and personal...
The source revealed that bureaucrats in North Hamgyung Province are shocked by the incident. “On the outside they’re furious, saying they’re going to track down the person responsible and torture them, but at the same time they don’t seem to know what to do.”
And on the inside they're afraid...
“The fact that privileged officials were killed right under the government’s noses, and while there were special patrols in place for the mourning period, means that the lower down the hierarchy you look bureaucrats are more anxious,” the source said.

The reaction from citizens who are aware of the incident is mostly positive, with some saying ‘they deserved it’, although such encouragement is tempered by concerns that this case will lead to even more stringent controls on the public. There are even rumors spreading that it may have been perpetrated by members of the military, given the bold nature of the crime and the skills required to carry it out.
Could be. Disaffected, hungry members of the military, perhaps watching their officers score more food or privileges, could do this. If we had a CIA worth anything at all we'd be pointing this out over and over.
The range of potential perpetrators is extraordinarily large, with the NSA, the PSA and the prosecutor’s office all having created their fair share of grudges over the last decade. These agencies have been responsible for carrying out some of the government’s policies of public oppression, using violence to confiscate property while also engaging in corruption, such as accepting bribes.

For the time being North Korean authorities are proceeding under the assumption that it was an act of rebellion against the system instigated with outside help, and are concentrating efforts to find the people responsible. Some harbor suspicions that the murders may be related to continuing border controls and mobile phone signal jamming.

The investigation looks set to be a long-term one though, with the agencies conducting the investigation understood to have no solid leads. Cheongjin is currently cut off from all interaction with the outside world, with nobody able to get in or out of the city.

Meanwhile, the source confirmed a claim made by kidnapping, defector and human rights group CHNK21 president Do Hee Yoon on Radio Free Asia last Thursday that leaflets criticizing Kim Jong Eun were recently scattered in downtown Cheongjin.

“People were surprised to see the leaflets scattered all at once in Sunam, Sujeongcheon and around train lines where a lot of people come and go. There was a similar event in February last year were leaflets were scattered at the front of Cheongjin Medical University, but this is the first time such an event has occurred in multiple places at once.”

However, the source added “Nobody knows yet whether or not the leaflets have any connection to the murders.”
They don't have to. It's better if they don't; that means that more people are becoming both more angry and less afraid.
Posted by: Steve White || 01/30/2012 00:00 || Comments || Link || [336068 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Do I have to ask the obvious question here?
Posted by: Raj || 01/30/2012 0:50 Comments || Top||

#2  The most important part is if this is a sustained effort, or one-offs. Nork is a brittle state, and one whose technique of vicious brutality is unable to quell well-prepared attacks that make the government look weak.
Posted by: Anonymoose || 01/30/2012 8:23 Comments || Top||

#3  Looks like the Nork people are reaching their f-it point. Everyone has a threshold of pain. Change happens when that threshold is exceeded.
Posted by: Mike Ramsey || 01/30/2012 9:39 Comments || Top||

#4  Having nothing to lose and being desparate are a dangerous combination.
Posted by: Bill Clinton || 01/30/2012 10:40 Comments || Top||

#5  too bad they will probably kill 1000's for the assasinations
Posted by: chris || 01/30/2012 11:56 Comments || Top||

#6  I'm going with a political hit. Or more exact - they were made an example of. North Hamgyong Province has borders with China and Russia. Figure it from there.
Posted by: Pappy || 01/30/2012 13:45 Comments || Top||

#7  Time to start updating the design of those one-shot throw-away pistols we dropped behind German lines in WW Deuce?
Posted by: mojo || 01/30/2012 14:42 Comments || Top||


Great White North
Canada: Shafia family found guilty in honour-killings trial
KINGSTON, Ont. — After Canada’s first mass-honour-killings trial, three members of a Montreal family have all been found guilty of first-degree murder in the drowning deaths of four other family members — including three teenage sisters.

A jury on Sunday handed down its guilty verdicts for Mohammad Shafia and Tooba Mohammad Yahya, as well as their 21-year-old son, Hamed.

They had been charged with murder after the bodies of three Shafia sisters — Zainab, 19, Sahar, 17, and 13-year-old Geeti — were discovered in a submerged vehicle in a canal near Kingston, in June 2009.

Also in the vehicle was Rona Amir Mohammad, the 52-year-old first wife of Shafia, whom he married in his native Afghanistan before the polygamous family moved to Canada in 2007 and settled in Montreal.
Posted by: Anguper Hupomosing9418 || 01/30/2012 00:00 || Comments || Link || [336070 views] Top|| File under:

#1  "you wouldn't understand - it's a cultural thing"
Posted by: Frank G || 01/30/2012 8:00 Comments || Top||

#2  YESSSSSSSSS!!!!! The jury didn't take very long to hit this one out of the snowdrift.

Just wait until they get settled into the Federal Prison system with its 24 hour-a-day country music and its wonderful native gang population. Somedays it IS worth chewing through the leather straps.
Posted by: Canuckistan sniper || 01/30/2012 17:00 Comments || Top||


Shafia Family Honor Killings -Three Guilty of 1st degree on All Four Counts
KINGSTON, Ont. — The Afghan parents and brother of three teenage girls and the woman they loved like a mother have been convicted of first-degree murder.

“It is difficult to conceive of a more heinous, more despicable and more honourless crime,” Ontario Superior Court Judge Robert Maranger said Sunday after the jury foreman had read aloud the verdicts.

Looking directly at Mohammad Shafia, 58, Tooba Mohammad Yahya, 42 and their oldest son Hamed as they stood before him in the prisoners’ box for the last time, the judge concluded with a stinging denunciation.

“The apparent reason behind these cold-blooded, shameless murders was that the four completely innocent victims offended your twisted notion of honour, a notion of honour that is founded upon the domination and control of women, a sick notion of honour that has absolutely no place in any civilized society.”
Posted by: manversgwtw || 01/30/2012 00:00 || Comments || Link || [336068 views] Top|| File under:


India-Pakistan
Doctor killed in 'sectarian' attack
[Dawn] KARACHI: A doctor and trustee of an Imambargah was rubbed out in front of his house in Federal B Area on Saturday morning.
Profitable things, imambargahs, or so I've heard.
Investigators said that the murder could be part of ongoing sectarian killings.

Dr Syed Jafar Mohsin Rizvi was targeted when he was reading a newspaper before his residence in F. B Area's block 12. One of the two riders, the area police said, got off the two-wheeler and fired multiple shots at the 60-year-old general physician before riding away with his aide.

"He was hit by bullets in the head and was struck down in his prime," said Inspector Raja Tariq, the SHO of the Gulberg cop shoppe.

"According to the victim's family, he read the newspaper almost daily on the bench fixed in front of his house. The family rushed out on hearing gunshots and found him lying in a pool of blood."

The police found four casings of spent bullets fired from a TT pistol, he said, adding that Sherlocks had come into contact with a few persons who witnessed the incident though from a distance.

"The block where the victim lived has big houses, and the wide lanes remain deserted around 12noon with scarce movement of pedestrians or vehicles," said the SHO, adding that the Sherlocks would first determine the route taken by the armed riders to connect the dots.

A trustee of Imambargah Aal-i-Aba in F. B Area block 13, Dr Rizvi also owned a tour operating company that arranges visits to holy places in Arab countries.

The police said the victim's son was in Karbala accompanying a group of Pak pilgrims and would return home on Sunday to attend the funeral prayers in Zohrain.

The body was taken to Rizvia Imambargah after medico-legal formalities were carried out at the Abbasi Shaheed Hospital.

The killing drew serious criticism from the Jafria Alliance Pakistain (JAP) and leaders of other organizations, who called the killing 'failure' of the government and law-enforcement agencies.

"The government has failed to end violence and no credible action is seen against banned outfits which are involved in these killings and bent on destroying religious harmony and peace in the city," said Abbas Kumaili of JAP.

He advised the government to become serious about ending sectarian killings, adding that they were fast spreading the sense of insecurity among the people of Bloody Karachi
...formerly the capital of Pakistain, now merely its most important port and financial center. It may be the largest city in the world, with a population of 18 million, most of whom hate each other and many of whom are armed and dangerous...
.The police authorities see the recent spate of assassinations on sectarian grounds as 'unfortunate' and find it hard to persuade rival sides to maintain harmony.

"Apart from our efforts to convince the two sides, we have geared up our activities on operational side," said Additional IG of Bloody Karachi Akhtar Hussain Gorchani. "An exercise to spot members of banned outfits has already been initiated that includes scanning of their criminal record maintained by the police and their identities for a decisive action."
Posted by: Fred || 01/30/2012 00:00 || Comments || Link || [336068 views] Top|| File under:


Policeman, attacker killed in Dera firing
[Dawn] A policeman and an attacker were killed in exchange of fire in Dera Ismail Khan
... the Pearl of Pashtunistan ...
city here on Saturday, sources said.

They said that two other accomplices of the assailants managed to escape. Eyewitnesses said that three attackers riding a cycle of violence opened firing on a police constable, Jehangir, on Grid Station Road when he was going home.

He was killed on the spot, they said, adding the constable was wearing plainclothes when he was attacked. The attackers, armed with hand grenades, were challenged by two personnel of the rider squad of police. The law enforcers exchanged fire with the attackers.

The attackers entered a private university building when they were trying to escape from the area. An attacker was killed at the gate of the university while his two others accomplices disappeared in the building.

Police and army contingents encircled the building and started a search operation. Security forces also recovered three hand grenades and one Kalashnikov from the dead attacker.

According to eyewitnesses, the attackers also hurled three hand grenades at the rider squad officials, however, no one was hurt.

The exchange of fire between the attackers and police continued for almost two hours. The search operation was in progress till filing of this report.

In Kohat, a security man was injured in an encounter during a search operation in Jawaki area of the frontier region on Saturday.

Security forces claimed that several snuffies were killed in the encounter. However,
it was a brave man who first ate an oyster...
independent sources didn't confirm the claim of security forces.

Sources said that security forces came face to face with snuffies during a search operation in the area that led to a shootout between them.

A security man was injured in the encounter and he was admitted to Combined Military Hospital in Kohat for treatment.

FR Kohat, which also includes Darra Adamkhel, has been in the control of security forces for the last five years. Taliban had enforced their own style Sharia before in the area before military operation against them.

In another incident, the house of an army officer was damaged when a remote controlled bomb went off in Mir Qadeem Colony on Bannu Road in Kohat on Saturday.

The boundary wall, a car, a rickshaw and the main gate of the house were partially damaged in the blast, sources said. The inmates remained unhurt in the incident.

The bomb disposal squad reached the scene soon after the morning prayers and cordoned off the whole area. The team said that five kilograms of highly kaboom had been used in the blast.

The explosives and the time device had been packed in a ghee canister, which was placed at the main gate of the house.

Police started the paperwork but haven't done much else on the complaint of the brother of the retired army officer, Brig (retired) Asad Gul and launched investigation.

In Khyber Agency, a security man was injured when unidentified snuffies attacked a checkpost in Bara on Saturday.

Officials said that scores of armed snuffies attacked a checkpost in Nala-Malikdinkhel area late in the evening that resulted in injuries to an FC man Sajid Khan and partial damage to the post.

Forces in retaliation fired at the myrmidons, who made good their escape in the darkness.

In Qanbarkhel locality of Bara, snuffies demolished the house of a tribal elder Mian Khan.

Local sources said that snuffies took along the door, windows and other belongings before dynamiting the empty house.

Family of Mian Khan had vacated the house some time ago after receiving threats from myrmidons.

in Landi Kotal, security forces defused two bombs planted by unidentified snuffies near a populated locality.
Posted by: Fred || 01/30/2012 00:00 || Comments || Link || [336069 views] Top|| File under: TTP


Iraq
Eight injured in south Baghdad blast
BAGHDAD / Aswat al-Iraq: Eight Iraqi civilians have been injured in an explosive charge blast in southern Baghdad's Zaafaraniya district on Sunday, a security source reported.

"An explosive charge, planted close to a petrol filling station in southern Baghdad's Zaafaraniya district, blew up wounding 8 civilian, who were driven to a nearby hospital," the security source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency on Sunday.
Posted by: Steve White || 01/30/2012 00:00 || Comments || Link || [336068 views] Top|| File under:


Syria-Lebanon-Iran
Assad's family caught trying to escape the country, returned to Damascus
Didn't something like that happen to the French royal family at about the same stage of the proceedings?
Sources tell Egyptian daily that Syrian security forces tried to help smuggle Syrian president's family out of country.

Syrian security forces attempted to smuggle Syrian Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir Pencilneck al-Assad
Lord of the Baath...
's family out of the country, sources from the Syrian opposition told Al-Masry-Al-Youm Sunday evening, according to a report published by the Egyptian daily.
According to the report, security forces tried to aid the president's wife Asma Assad, to escape via Damascus
...The City of Jasmin is the oldest continuously-inhabited city in the world. It has not always been inhabited by the same set of fascisti...
, along with his children, mother and cousin.

The sources told Al-Masry-Al-Youm that "a convoy of official vehicles was seen heading to the airport in Damascus," before they were intercepted by brigades of army defectors.

According to the source, there was a heavy exchange of fire between the security forces and the Free Syrian Army forces; the family were prevented from escaping and returned to the presidential palace.

Posted by: || 01/30/2012 10:58 || Comments || Link || [336136 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Louis and Marie bolted for Belgium, IIRC.
Posted by: mojo || 01/30/2012 11:31 Comments || Top||

#2  Assad must be getting a little nervous
Posted by: chris || 01/30/2012 11:53 Comments || Top||

#3  wonder if he knew?
Posted by: Frank G || 01/30/2012 13:31 Comments || Top||

#4  If true, it means the end is near.
Posted by: phil_b || 01/30/2012 14:04 Comments || Top||

#5  phil b, my thought exactly.

If they've gotten to the beat feet stage the next one is the short drop to a sudden stop.

Gee, then we can have another raving Islamic nut job country. Israel is really between the rock and the hard place.

Wonder how many of those "freedom" types will get elected this time? 'bout the same as Egypt?
Posted by: AlanC || 01/30/2012 14:18 Comments || Top||

#6  Heading out for a Euro Disney vacation?
Posted by: gorb || 01/30/2012 14:19 Comments || Top||

#7  A regime that doesn't control the route to the airport doesn't control much at all.
Posted by: phil_b || 01/30/2012 14:43 Comments || Top||

#8  What? Vogue magazine couldn't send a helicopter to pick up the stylish Mrs. Dictator and her brood?
Posted by: M. Murcek || 01/30/2012 15:50 Comments || Top||

#9  I fear for Israel as the islamic countries that surround them are brought up to hate Jews and Israel
Posted by: Paul D || 01/30/2012 17:26 Comments || Top||

#10  I fear for the Islamic countries surrounding Israel as they are organizing their own destruction.
Do I feel any sympathy for them? Not one bit.
Posted by: Grunter in Sydney || 01/30/2012 18:15 Comments || Top||

#11  The Mossad should call Assad with a plan.
Posted by: Nimble Spemble || 01/30/2012 19:37 Comments || Top||

#12  Baby Assad needed to R-U-N-N-O-F-T quite a while ago, so now he and his entourage could get this:

To sit in solemn silence in a dull, dark dock,
In a pestilential prison, with a life-long lock,
Awaiting the sensation of a short, sharp shock,
From a cheap and chippy chopper on a big black block!
To sit in solemn silence in a dull, dark dock,
In a pestilential prison, with a life-long lock,
Awaiting the sensation of a short, sharp shock,
From a cheap and chippy chopper on a big black block!
A dull, dark dock, a life-long lock,
A short, sharp shock, a big black block!
To sit in solemn silence in a pestilential prison,
And awaiting the sensation
From a cheap and chippy chopper on a big black block!
Posted by: Alaska Paul || 01/30/2012 21:06 Comments || Top||


99 Killed Sunday as Syria Rebels Say Clashes Inching Closer to Capital
[An Nahar] Fierce festivities approached the Syrian capital on Sunday as fresh violence across the country killed at least 59 civilians, 31 regime troops and nine army deserters, according to activists.

Regime forces fired heavy artillery and mortar rounds against the Damascus
...Capital of the last overtly fascist regime in the world...
suburbs of Douma, Saqba, Irbin and Hamouriyeh and were locked in close battle with rebel fighters emboldened by a fresh wave of desertions, activists said.

Meanwhile,
...back at the secret hideout, Scarface Al sneeringly put his proposition to little Nell...
the Local Coordination Committees, the main activist group spurring protests on the ground, said security forces killed 17 people in Damascus and its suburbs Kfarbatna, Saqba, Hamouriyeh, Rankous, Zabadani and Harasta.

Regime troops also rubbed out 19 people in the central opposition bastion Homs, four people in the flashpoint central province of Hama, six in the restive northwestern province of Idlib, four in the southern province of Daraa, the cradle of the revolt, and one in the eastern oil hub of Deir al-Zour, the LCC said.

For its part, the London-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said 26 regime soldiers, five other members of the security forces and nine army deserters were also among those killed as the regime cracked down on protesters and rebels.

The watchdog said the regime soldiers were killed in three separate attacks in the Idlib and Damascus regions.

The Observatory said earlier that 10 members of the military were killed when their convoy was attacked in Jebel al-Zuwiya in the northwest, and the official SANA news agency said "an armed terrorist group" killed six others near Damascus.

"The more the regime uses the army, the more soldiers defect," Ahmed al-Khatib, a local rebel council member on the Damascus outskirts, told Agence La Belle France Presse.

A front man for the rebel Free Syrian Army, which boasts 40,000 men and whose leadership is in Turkey, said that the fighting came a day after "a large wave of defections," with 50 officers and soldiers turning their back on Assad.

In a "steady progression of fighting towards the capital," front man Maher Nueimi said deserters were clashing with army regulars only eight kilometers from Damascus.

The regime, in turn, has launched "an unprecedented offensive in the past 24 hours, using heavy artillery" against villages in Damascus and Hama province of central Syria, Nueimi said.

Other rebel spokesmen reported heavy fighting
... as opposed to the more usual light or sporadic fighting...
in Rankous, 45 kilometers from Damascus, and of heightened tension in Hama, further to the north.

Rankous was "besieged for the past five days and is being randomly shelled since dawn by tanks and artillery rounds," rebel Abu Ali al-Rankousi told AFP by telephone.

In Hama, pro-regime snipers were deployed on the rooftops, according to activists, with security forces leaving "bodies of dead people with their hands tied behind their backs" on the streets across several neighborhoods.

It was this latest surge in violence that pushed the Arab League
...an organization of Arabic-speaking states with 22 member countries and four observers. The League tries to achieve Arab consensus on issues, which usually leaves them doing nothing but a bit of grimacing and mustache cursing...
to suspend its mission to Syria in a surprise move on Saturday.

U.N. chief the ephemeral Ban Ki-moon
... of whom it can be said to his credit that he is not Kofi Annan...
said Sunday that Syrian Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir Pencilneck al-Assad
Leveler of Latakia...
must end the killings.

"First and foremost, he must stop immediately the bloodshed," Ban told news hounds. "The Syrian leadership should take a decisive action at this time to stop this violence. All the violence must stop."

But Syrian Interior Minister Mohammed al-Shaar said the authorities were determined to "cleanse" the country and restore order.

"The security forces are determined to carry on the struggle to cleanse Syria of renegades and outlaws ... to restore safety and security," SANA quoted Shaar as saying.
Posted by: Fred || 01/30/2012 00:00 || Comments || Link || [336068 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Syria

#1  That's the trouble with the internationalist approach. They are so terrified of violence, anywhere, for any reason, that they can imagine no instance when it is justified.

"Wife being raped and strangled by armed intruders? It's vital that you not try to stop them, but hold a committee meeting to determine what your non-violent agenda should be!"
Posted by: Anonymoose || 01/30/2012 8:27 Comments || Top||


Tumult in Akkar over Reports of Death of Lebanese 'Gunmen' in Homs
[An Nahar] Several families in the northern Lebanese border towns of Mashta Hassan and Mashta Hammoud have received information that two Lebanese citizens and a Syrian man were killed and two Syrians maimed when they came under gunfire on the al-Jaafariyat bridge in the Syrian town of Tal Kalakh, Leb's state-run National News Agency reported Sunday, as another report spoke of a 9-strong Lebanese gang led by an Iraqi man.

NNA said the "unconfirmed reports have sparked a major tumult in both border towns, to which local and foreign media outlets have flocked in a bid to scrutinize the authenticity of these reports."

According to the Lebanese news agency, the rapidly spreading reports have claimed that among those killed were "Syrian citizen M. A. D., who owns a pastry shop in the Lebanese town of Mashta Hassan, Lebanese citizen Kh. N. S. from the town of Mashta Hammoud and Lebanese citizen M. D. from the town of Mashta Hassan."

The two maimed Syrians, who were jugged by the Syrian authorities, have not been identified yet according to the reports.

The residents of the two Lebanese towns "are still trying to confirm the reports, although the aforementioned individuals have recently vanished without making any contact with their families," NNA said.

Meanwhile,
...back at the argument, Jane reached into her purse for her .38...
OTV reported that "an gang led by an Iraqi man and comprising nine Lebanese members had infiltrated Syria through the Lebanese-Syrian border."

"The Syrian army ambushed the group on the Tal Kalakh-Safita intersection (in Homs province), killing at least 4 members of the group and wounding several others," OTV said.

For his part, head of Mashta Hammoud Municipality Naji Ramadan told LBC television that "it is normal that Lebanese individuals be killed in Syria given the non-demarcated border areas and the spike in violence" in revolt-hit Syria.

Ramadan confirmed the death of "a Lebanese and a Syrian," declining to give further information.

On January 19, Syria's official news agency SANA said Syrian security forces killed three members of a "terrorist group" as they tried to enter the country from neighboring Leb.

"The security forces of Syria clashed ... with a terrorist group trying to infiltrate the country across the border with Leb in the Tal Kalakh area and killed three of them," the agency said.
Posted by: Fred || 01/30/2012 00:00 || Comments || Link || [336074 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Syria


Syria clashes near Damascus
DAMASCUS - Fierce clashes approached the capital on Sunday as Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s opponents sought to crank up the pressure for UN action after the Arab League withdrew its observers.

Regime forces fired heavy artillery and mortar rounds against the Damascus suburbs of Douma, Saaba, Irbin and Hamuriyeh and were locked in close battle with rebel fighters emboldened by a fresh wave of desertions, activists said.

“The more the regime uses the army, the more soldiers defect,” Ahmed al-Khatib, a local rebel council member on the Damascus outskirts, told AFP.

A spokesman for the rebel Free Syrian Army, which boasts 40,000 men and whose leadership is in Turkey, said that the fighting came a day after “a large wave of defections,” with 50 officers and soldiers turning their back on Assad.

In a “steady progression of fighting towards the capital,” spokesman Maher Nueimi said deserters were clashing with army regulars only eight kilometres (five miles) from Damascus. The regime, in turn, has launched “an unprecedented offensive in the past 24 hours, using heavy artillery” against villages in Damascus and Hama province of central Syria, Nueimi said.

Other rebel spokesmen reported heavy fighting in Rankus, 45 kilometres (28 miles) from Damascus, and of heightened tension in Hama, further to the north. Rankus was “besieged for the past five days and is being randomly shelled since dawn by tanks and artillery rounds,” rebel Abu Ali al-Rankusi told AFP by telephone.

In Hama, pro-regime snipers were deployed on the rooftops, according to activists, with security forces leaving “bodies of dead people with their hands tied behind their backs” on the streets across several neighbourhoods.

Earlier on Sunday activists and state media reported the deaths of 16 soldiers in two separate attacks as well as of five civilians and a deserter.

The latest toll adds to an AFP tally of at least 232 people — among them 147 civilians — killed since Tuesday, compiled from reports by the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights and state media.

The Observatory reported 10 members of the military killed when their convoy was attacked in Jebel al-Zuwiya in the northwest, and the official SANA news agency said “an armed terrorist group” killed six others near Damascus.

The watchdog also reported four civilians and a deserter killed as soldiers and mutineers clashed in the Ghuta area near the capital. It said another civilian was killed in Homs, central Syria.
Posted by: Steve White || 01/30/2012 00:00 || Comments || Link || [336072 views] Top|| File under:



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Two weeks of WOT
Mon 2012-01-30
  Assad's family caught trying to escape the country, returned to Damascus
Sun 2012-01-29
  Nigerian military kills 11 militants in northeast
Sat 2012-01-28
  UN loses count on Syria killings
Fri 2012-01-27
  Sectarian clashes kill at least 22 in Yemen
Thu 2012-01-26
  Woman Dead as Bombs, Bullets Rain on Nigeria Police Station
Wed 2012-01-25
  SEALS Spring Two, Bag Nine
Tue 2012-01-24
  EU imposes sanctions on Iran oil
Mon 2012-01-23
  U.S. aircraft carrier goes through Strait of Hormuz without incident
Sun 2012-01-22
  Syrian Forces Kill More than 50 Civilian as Dissidents Clash with Troops
Sat 2012-01-21
  Terror attacks in Kano, Nigeria, kill at least 162
Fri 2012-01-20
  Aslam Awan of Abbottabad Dronezapped
Thu 2012-01-19
  Bangladesh army says plot to topple government foiled
Wed 2012-01-18
  Syria 'absolutely rejects' calls for Arab troops
Tue 2012-01-17
  Kenyan jets bomb Al-Shabaab bases
Mon 2012-01-16
  Kenya Arrests 29 Ugandans 'Headed to Somalia to Fight'

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